With rapid development of science and technology, a large number of electronic products are introduced into the market. For increasing use convenience, the general trends in designing electronic products are toward small size, light weightiness and easy portability. For example, these electronic devices include portable consumer electronic devices, portable measuring instruments, portable medical instruments, electric bicycles or electric hand tools. Generally, these electronic devices use portable power sources as sources of electric power. Among various portable power sources, batteries are widely used because of safety, lightweight and convenient features.
Moreover, with the promotion of sustainable development and environmental protection concepts, electric vehicle technologies have received considerable attention because electric vehicles can solve the problems of air pollution and oil shortage. Since the electric vehicles use rechargeable batteries as the power sources, it is an important issue to increase the electric properties and the cycle lives of the batteries.
Moreover, among the conventional batteries, the lithium-ion batteries are more potential for development because lithium-ion batteries have high volumetric capacitance, rechargeable features, good charge/discharge cycle characteristics and other appropriate properties. Moreover, the lithium iron phosphate-based compound (LiFePO4, also abbreviated to LFP) is more popular. The battery with the lithium iron phosphate-based compound as the cathode material has many benefits such as a larger current, a longer recycle life, an anti-oxidation property and an anti-acidic effect. Moreover, since the lithium iron phosphate-based compound does not release oxygen gas during the charge/discharge process, the battery has no explosion risk. Consequently, the lithium iron phosphate-based compound is considered to be the potential cathode material of the lithium-ion battery.
However, the conventional method of preparing the lithium iron phosphate compound has some drawbacks. For example, during the thermal treatment process, the particles of the lithium iron phosphate compound are readily suffered from aggregation. Under this circumstance, the particle size of the lithium iron phosphate powder is increased and the electric properties of the battery are deteriorated.
Therefore, there is a need of providing an improved preparation method of a battery cathode material with enhanced electric properties in order to overcome the above drawbacks.